August 22, 2013, 7:47 UTC+3Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin commented the state of Russia's aircraft manufacturing industry in an interview

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MOSCOW, August 22 (Itar-Tass) - Development of a wide-body long-range jet is a very serious prospective project for the Russian commercial aircraft manufacturing and China should be invited as a partner to it, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview published Thursday by Kommersant Daily.

As he answered a question about the plans for the manufacturing of Russia’s own civilian jets, Rogozin said among other things: “That’s a really crucial prospect for us.“

He stressed the importance of entering the market of wide-body jets “with an absolutely unique design that would be different from what the Europeans and the Americans have.

“Joint manufacturing together with the Chinese will not only help us reduce the risks to the minimum but will also offer a huge market for the project and will make it profitable,” Rogozin said. “We’ve already begun work with the partners.”

With regard to other spheres of commercial aircraft manufacturing, he stated the absence of an authentic light engine plane in Russia, adding that the prospects for the Russian manufacturers are still rather dim in this sphere.

He pointed out a civilian version of the Ilyushin-112 jet as a possible new arrival in the segment of short-range passenger carriers.

Along with this, Rogozin believes that the SSJ and MC-21 jets will become handy additions to the family8 of medium-range airliners along with the Tupolevs in the medium-term future.

“They will likely win over the national market and will squeeze the Western manufacturers out of it,” he said.